The International Center for Technology Assessment (ICTA) has reported that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will be releasing an internal task force report and recommendations on nanotechnology oversight by the end of this month.

The guidance, in development by FDA’s task force since last October, will be the first indication of the approach FDA will take in its overview of nanomaterials. Several hundred self-identified consumer products composed of nanomaterials are currently widely available, according to ICTA.

ICTA’s May 2006 legal petition to FDA was the first legal action on the human health and environmental risks of nanotechnology, according to the organization. The petition calls on the agency to develop specific regulations to protect human health and the environment from the unique risks that scientists say may derive from nanotech. For more information, visit www.icta.org.